I feel good. It's the kind of good that comes from being all caught up on everything. The kind of good that you feel after you've changed the sheets on your toddler's bed and vacuumed under the couch. The kind of good that you feel when you're fresh and energetic and ready to RACE. And it's only Thursday.
I have to say, I'm surprised that I feel so good during this recovery week. I guess I was expecting to feel somewhat lethargic... I expected that it would take longer to eliminate the fatigue I accumulated during my 3 week training camp, but I swear, one easy day and Nalani and I were both good to go at the track on Tuesday morning. And then after a great swim/bike yesterday, I was relaxing on the couch and my foot was just twitching... like I've got all this energy that is just waiting to be spent on Sunday. It's a cool feeling, really.
This morning I put Moana in the jogger and ran her down to her day care. (It's maybe 20ish minutes away if I'm jogging.) I left the jogger there and ran home without it, planning to pick up the pace a bit to 'comfortably hard' during the last mile. I remember when that effort resulted in about 7:45 from the corner to home... lately it's been more like 7:20... today I felt light and fresh and the same effort yielded 7 flat. How cool is that? I love how our bodies adapt to the stresses we put them under.
Anyway, I sit here now and find myself with some quiet free time. Most of the schedules for my athletes have been written, my house is clean, the laundry is folded, and I don't have a bike ride to do today. What ever shall I do with myself? I have a whole hour until it's time to go get Moana. Maybe I'll relax on the couch and read a book. Wow. This is indeed a unique day.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
White Girl Can Jump!
Moana has been working on jumping for what seems like months now... and it appears she's finally got it! Both feet off the ground. I'm a proud mama. And she's big on having an audience who will "watch!" (Please disregard the blueberry stains on her shirt. She's 18 months old. There are new stains everyday.)
I took Moana to the library yesterday afternoon... what a great free resource! We've been checking out 6-8 books and rotating them through the nightly line-up for a couple weeks before exchanging them for new ones. In truth, I think I am more bored of Moana's books than she is. She seems to like the ones she's got memorized already. But I need a little variety, and she does too, whether she knows it or not. ;)
Anyway, our town library has a bunch of big stuffed animals up on high shelves and Moana goes crazy for them! It's all quiet in the library with people sitting and reading/studying and then there's my daughter yelping out, "BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR!" while she points all the way across the room at the specific bear she wants me to pull down for the hug. There are also little tables and chairs that are sized for toddlers and of course she loves that. We don't have room in our condo for an extra table/chairs for her so she gets a kick out of toddler sized furniture when she sees it.
Outside the library there's a big grassy park, and given by the way she had me chasing her all over the library, I figured she needed a little free play time to run and run and run. This park was perfect for that! Something I found interesting was that as soon as we got to the grass she sat down and insisted on taking her shoes off. Yes, my daughter has hopped on the Barefoot Running bandwagon already. And she runs right on the balls of her feet. Good girl. Natural instinct I guess, which is what those barefoot advocates talk about. So I kicked off my shoes too and did running drills barefoot in the grass while chasing her around. She thinks it's funny to watch me skip and bound. Then I demonstrated 'forward' and 'backward' running... you know how they do that on Sesame street... over and over and over... "Forward! Backward! Forward! Backward!" Yeah. We did that for a while. It was fun! This quality time we get to spend together, giggling and laughing while running around barefoot in the park, is priceless.
Speaking of priceless, look who graduated today to TWO ponytails? Oh my she's looking like a little girl now instead of a baby.
I took Moana to the library yesterday afternoon... what a great free resource! We've been checking out 6-8 books and rotating them through the nightly line-up for a couple weeks before exchanging them for new ones. In truth, I think I am more bored of Moana's books than she is. She seems to like the ones she's got memorized already. But I need a little variety, and she does too, whether she knows it or not. ;)
Anyway, our town library has a bunch of big stuffed animals up on high shelves and Moana goes crazy for them! It's all quiet in the library with people sitting and reading/studying and then there's my daughter yelping out, "BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR!" while she points all the way across the room at the specific bear she wants me to pull down for the hug. There are also little tables and chairs that are sized for toddlers and of course she loves that. We don't have room in our condo for an extra table/chairs for her so she gets a kick out of toddler sized furniture when she sees it.
Outside the library there's a big grassy park, and given by the way she had me chasing her all over the library, I figured she needed a little free play time to run and run and run. This park was perfect for that! Something I found interesting was that as soon as we got to the grass she sat down and insisted on taking her shoes off. Yes, my daughter has hopped on the Barefoot Running bandwagon already. And she runs right on the balls of her feet. Good girl. Natural instinct I guess, which is what those barefoot advocates talk about. So I kicked off my shoes too and did running drills barefoot in the grass while chasing her around. She thinks it's funny to watch me skip and bound. Then I demonstrated 'forward' and 'backward' running... you know how they do that on Sesame street... over and over and over... "Forward! Backward! Forward! Backward!" Yeah. We did that for a while. It was fun! This quality time we get to spend together, giggling and laughing while running around barefoot in the park, is priceless.
Speaking of priceless, look who graduated today to TWO ponytails? Oh my she's looking like a little girl now instead of a baby.
Monday, May 10, 2010
How Much Food Can One Triathlete Eat?
I got on the scale to weight myself this morning... I figured that after the big 3 week training camp I just put myself through that surely I would have dropped down to race weight. Nope. Gained a pound. I'm wondering how this is possible? Let's do the math...
60 hours of training over 3 weeks. (Yes! I did say it was a big camp.) At, let's say a conservative average burn of 500 calories/hour, that would be 30,000 calories. At 3500 calories/pound, in theory, had I eaten like a normal person, I would have lost 8.5 lbs. But instead, I gained a pound. So you do the math and figure out just how much I ATE in the last 3 weeks! Lol. It makes me think of The Biggest Loser folks. I don't know how many hours/week they put in, but must be a lot to lose that much weight week after week. And I wonder how they control their appetites? When I'm training a lot I'm just plain hungry ALL THE TIME. There's no not eating, you know?
Anyway, I'm not actually worried about my weight. I just thought that was an interesting point, and kind of an accomplishment really- to train so much but not lose any weight! Ha! It's not like I was eating a bunch of junk either... all good stuff... well, 90% good stuff... ;)
In good news, I feel super fit and durable. I managed to fit in that big training block without throwing myself off any overtraining cliffs, as evidenced by the fact that I ran my fastest 5K ever on Saturday morning. (Even with that extra pound! ;) I ran 15 seconds faster (21:26) than I did on the same course last year (21:41) and split the race much more evenly. In fact, I ran pretty much even splits at 6:53 for all 3 miles. Sort of makes me want to actually train and rest for a 5K to see what I could actually do without carrying the extra fatigue? One of these years...
This week I'm cutting way back on the training, and hopefully the eating too. Sunday will be my first Olympic Distance Tri in 3 years! Last time I did this distance was 2007 (on the same course) so it should provide a good comparison to gauge my improvement. There should be some fast gals there to race with too so it'll be fun to play and see how it all shakes out.
In other good news, I got the job with Coffees of Hawaii! I got an email on Friday from the plantation manager outlining some of the details. Essentially I'll be calling on local restaurants to see if I can get them to start serving local coffee (instead of Italian coffee, duh) and then I'll need to manage those accounts once I get them set up. Scott and Moana and I went out to dinner on Friday night and I struck up a conversation with our waiter about the coffee they serve at their restaurant... By the time we walked out I had the business card and cell phone number of the restaurant manager who was chomping at the bit to hear more about the local coffee plantation and how he could get his hands on some of that Moloka'i coffee. Perfect. I'm gonna love this job. I feel like a hunter capturing these accounts. It's a win/win for everyone though when local restaurants support other local businesses. It's a no brainer, really.
Finally, an update on the EPIC5 guys... their 5 Ironmans in 5 days on 5 islands turned out to be a bigger logistical challenge than they had anticipated. Looks like they're still going to complete it, but in 7 days rather than 5. It's been taking them a really long time to complete each one, and several times now they have not completed until after midnight, which makes it tough to get up before the sun comes up the next day and fly to another island to start all over again. In fact, they started Ironman #4 on Maui yesterday morning at about 10 and didn't finish until 5:00 this morning!! They ran (and walked) all through the night. So looks like today will be an off day and they'll start in Kona tomorrow morning for the 5th and final Ironman. Ironman #3 was on Moloka'i and of course they were sponsored by Coffees Of Hawaii while they were there- staying at the COH plantation house and being catered too quite well it appears. I just cannot fathom the fatigue they must be feeling. They're getting 75 hours of training in about 7 days. I wonder if they're cool like me and managed to gain any weight this week?
60 hours of training over 3 weeks. (Yes! I did say it was a big camp.) At, let's say a conservative average burn of 500 calories/hour, that would be 30,000 calories. At 3500 calories/pound, in theory, had I eaten like a normal person, I would have lost 8.5 lbs. But instead, I gained a pound. So you do the math and figure out just how much I ATE in the last 3 weeks! Lol. It makes me think of The Biggest Loser folks. I don't know how many hours/week they put in, but must be a lot to lose that much weight week after week. And I wonder how they control their appetites? When I'm training a lot I'm just plain hungry ALL THE TIME. There's no not eating, you know?
Anyway, I'm not actually worried about my weight. I just thought that was an interesting point, and kind of an accomplishment really- to train so much but not lose any weight! Ha! It's not like I was eating a bunch of junk either... all good stuff... well, 90% good stuff... ;)
In good news, I feel super fit and durable. I managed to fit in that big training block without throwing myself off any overtraining cliffs, as evidenced by the fact that I ran my fastest 5K ever on Saturday morning. (Even with that extra pound! ;) I ran 15 seconds faster (21:26) than I did on the same course last year (21:41) and split the race much more evenly. In fact, I ran pretty much even splits at 6:53 for all 3 miles. Sort of makes me want to actually train and rest for a 5K to see what I could actually do without carrying the extra fatigue? One of these years...
This week I'm cutting way back on the training, and hopefully the eating too. Sunday will be my first Olympic Distance Tri in 3 years! Last time I did this distance was 2007 (on the same course) so it should provide a good comparison to gauge my improvement. There should be some fast gals there to race with too so it'll be fun to play and see how it all shakes out.
In other good news, I got the job with Coffees of Hawaii! I got an email on Friday from the plantation manager outlining some of the details. Essentially I'll be calling on local restaurants to see if I can get them to start serving local coffee (instead of Italian coffee, duh) and then I'll need to manage those accounts once I get them set up. Scott and Moana and I went out to dinner on Friday night and I struck up a conversation with our waiter about the coffee they serve at their restaurant... By the time we walked out I had the business card and cell phone number of the restaurant manager who was chomping at the bit to hear more about the local coffee plantation and how he could get his hands on some of that Moloka'i coffee. Perfect. I'm gonna love this job. I feel like a hunter capturing these accounts. It's a win/win for everyone though when local restaurants support other local businesses. It's a no brainer, really.
Finally, an update on the EPIC5 guys... their 5 Ironmans in 5 days on 5 islands turned out to be a bigger logistical challenge than they had anticipated. Looks like they're still going to complete it, but in 7 days rather than 5. It's been taking them a really long time to complete each one, and several times now they have not completed until after midnight, which makes it tough to get up before the sun comes up the next day and fly to another island to start all over again. In fact, they started Ironman #4 on Maui yesterday morning at about 10 and didn't finish until 5:00 this morning!! They ran (and walked) all through the night. So looks like today will be an off day and they'll start in Kona tomorrow morning for the 5th and final Ironman. Ironman #3 was on Moloka'i and of course they were sponsored by Coffees Of Hawaii while they were there- staying at the COH plantation house and being catered too quite well it appears. I just cannot fathom the fatigue they must be feeling. They're getting 75 hours of training in about 7 days. I wonder if they're cool like me and managed to gain any weight this week?
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Epic!
It's Thursday. My free day. The day where I have ambitions of accomplishing everything and end up accomplishing only some schedule writing and my own training. Perfect.
But the good news about today is that my free day happened to fall on the same day that Rich Roll and Jason Lester were doing their EPIC5 Ironman on Oahu. Haven't heard of these guys? They are amazing Ultra Endurance athletes and are trying to be the first to do 5 Ironmans in 5 days on 5 different Hawaiian Islands. They did the first one yesterday on Kauai, then flew over to Oahu last night do repeat the swim/bike/run here today.... then onto Molokai tomorrow, Maui on Saturday, and then finally the Big Island on Sunday.
One Ironman is a lot. Two Ironmans (in a year) is enough to make most triathletes want to throw their bike off a bridge. 5 in 5 days? I cannot even imagine. And then add in the logistics of it all... flying to different islands each day... packing up your bike every night and then putting it back together the next morning before starting off again? And how much food would you need to consume to fuel that journey?? Nuts. Or avocado sandwiches apparently.
Anyway, on their live website you can follow along and see where they're at and read their Twitter updates about all the stuff that they are facing. Like how Rich's bike didn't make the flight from Kauai to Oahu last night... and then when it finally arrived how some random part on his seat post was broken so they had to wait until The Bike Shop opened this morning to get that part fixed before they could start riding... Anyway, they also have a GPS tracking device telling us where they're at which is helpful for those of us who want to stalk them.
I was planning on riding about 40 miles today and I knew that if those guys were planning 112 miles on this island, in all likelihood they would be riding in my neck of the woods at some point. This island just isn't that big so they couldn't exactly hide. So I stalked them all morning and then got all dressed up in my Trakkers cycling kit headed out around 12:30 on the road where I figured they would be... So here comes the fun part!
It was about 2:00 and I was on my way home when I saw them coming at me the other way! I'm sorry I'm a bad blogger because I don't have pictures or video of this part (sorry!) but I totally just flipped a U-turn on my bike as soon as I saw them and then soft pedaled while I waited for them to catch me... all the while feeling like an awestruck 13 year old girl who was stunned into silence by the presence of her heroes. But then when they finally caught me I ended up with some type of diarrhea of the mouth where I just couldn't help but babble on and on about how I was hoping I would see them out there and was cheering them on and blah blah blah. They were probably rolling their eyes but at least Rich was nice enough to humor me and ride beside me and chat for a while.
I will preface this by first saying that I am a happily married woman (and plan to stay that way)... but, um, Rich Roll is smokin' HOT.
He's really nice too. He didn't seem irritated at all by my stalking. They were not riding very fast so it was easy to just pedal and chat. Like I said, I was wearing my Trakkers kit so he asked if I was on the Trakkers team, to which I replied that I was... and then started to tell him all about the GPS technology that they could be using. So there. Clearly I did my part for Trakkers this year in promoting it with someone like Rich Roll. ;) What was funny though was when he asked me if I was a pro. Me? A pro? Lol. Pro Stalker, maybe. No, I'm just a stay-at-home-mom who ditched her kid at daycare today so I could come out and hunt you down and drool for several miles before turning around and finishing my own ride heading home...
I tried to not be a complete pest, so after several miles I wished them both well and then flipped another U-turn and came home. Then I started thinking about the logistics of the rest of their day... It was after 2:00 already and they weren't even half way through their ride (because of the mechanical and late start they got on their ride)... and they weren't going very fast (guess pacing is important when you're tackling 140+ miles of swim/bike/run every day for 5 days in a row...) Anyway, they won't be off their bikes until something like 6:00 tonight and THEN they'll start their marathon... Rich laughed and said he anticipates much walking in the dark tonight. He said they're flying to Molokai tomorrow morning at 6:30- which makes sense because the last flight out tonight is probably at like 9:00 and they won't be done with their marathon yet... That is crazy stuff. Makes all my training seem like nothing.
Anyway, that was my EPIC day. Awesome. I'm still star-struck!
But the good news about today is that my free day happened to fall on the same day that Rich Roll and Jason Lester were doing their EPIC5 Ironman on Oahu. Haven't heard of these guys? They are amazing Ultra Endurance athletes and are trying to be the first to do 5 Ironmans in 5 days on 5 different Hawaiian Islands. They did the first one yesterday on Kauai, then flew over to Oahu last night do repeat the swim/bike/run here today.... then onto Molokai tomorrow, Maui on Saturday, and then finally the Big Island on Sunday.
One Ironman is a lot. Two Ironmans (in a year) is enough to make most triathletes want to throw their bike off a bridge. 5 in 5 days? I cannot even imagine. And then add in the logistics of it all... flying to different islands each day... packing up your bike every night and then putting it back together the next morning before starting off again? And how much food would you need to consume to fuel that journey?? Nuts. Or avocado sandwiches apparently.
Anyway, on their live website you can follow along and see where they're at and read their Twitter updates about all the stuff that they are facing. Like how Rich's bike didn't make the flight from Kauai to Oahu last night... and then when it finally arrived how some random part on his seat post was broken so they had to wait until The Bike Shop opened this morning to get that part fixed before they could start riding... Anyway, they also have a GPS tracking device telling us where they're at which is helpful for those of us who want to stalk them.
I was planning on riding about 40 miles today and I knew that if those guys were planning 112 miles on this island, in all likelihood they would be riding in my neck of the woods at some point. This island just isn't that big so they couldn't exactly hide. So I stalked them all morning and then got all dressed up in my Trakkers cycling kit headed out around 12:30 on the road where I figured they would be... So here comes the fun part!
It was about 2:00 and I was on my way home when I saw them coming at me the other way! I'm sorry I'm a bad blogger because I don't have pictures or video of this part (sorry!) but I totally just flipped a U-turn on my bike as soon as I saw them and then soft pedaled while I waited for them to catch me... all the while feeling like an awestruck 13 year old girl who was stunned into silence by the presence of her heroes. But then when they finally caught me I ended up with some type of diarrhea of the mouth where I just couldn't help but babble on and on about how I was hoping I would see them out there and was cheering them on and blah blah blah. They were probably rolling their eyes but at least Rich was nice enough to humor me and ride beside me and chat for a while.
I will preface this by first saying that I am a happily married woman (and plan to stay that way)... but, um, Rich Roll is smokin' HOT.
He's really nice too. He didn't seem irritated at all by my stalking. They were not riding very fast so it was easy to just pedal and chat. Like I said, I was wearing my Trakkers kit so he asked if I was on the Trakkers team, to which I replied that I was... and then started to tell him all about the GPS technology that they could be using. So there. Clearly I did my part for Trakkers this year in promoting it with someone like Rich Roll. ;) What was funny though was when he asked me if I was a pro. Me? A pro? Lol. Pro Stalker, maybe. No, I'm just a stay-at-home-mom who ditched her kid at daycare today so I could come out and hunt you down and drool for several miles before turning around and finishing my own ride heading home...
I tried to not be a complete pest, so after several miles I wished them both well and then flipped another U-turn and came home. Then I started thinking about the logistics of the rest of their day... It was after 2:00 already and they weren't even half way through their ride (because of the mechanical and late start they got on their ride)... and they weren't going very fast (guess pacing is important when you're tackling 140+ miles of swim/bike/run every day for 5 days in a row...) Anyway, they won't be off their bikes until something like 6:00 tonight and THEN they'll start their marathon... Rich laughed and said he anticipates much walking in the dark tonight. He said they're flying to Molokai tomorrow morning at 6:30- which makes sense because the last flight out tonight is probably at like 9:00 and they won't be done with their marathon yet... That is crazy stuff. Makes all my training seem like nothing.
Anyway, that was my EPIC day. Awesome. I'm still star-struck!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Please Turn Off The Heat
I know I've complained about how HOT our pool has been before, but here's yet another post about it. Feel free to skip this one if you aren't interested in reading about the nausea that accompanies swimming hard in water that is 86+ degrees.
When I sit down and plan our swim workouts (a week or more in advance) I don't normally take into consideration the water temp at the pool (though at this point I'll probably have to start). I just think about the type of work I want us to do. So when we're doing threshold work, typically the intervals are tight. Sometimes tighter than others, depending on multiple factors.
This morning the intervals were tight. And getting tighter as the set progressed. Given that the water was so HOT on Monday that I thought I was going to die at the end of workout, I knew that this one was going to be especially tough. The intervals were for 100's that I wasn't sure I could do even if the water was 78 degrees. My solution? Bring a bottle full of ice water to squirt on myself between items. Maybe that would help.
I'll cut to the chase and tell you that while it felt phenomenal to squirt my face with ice water (this probably prevented me from actually bursting into flames), it did not help me make the intervals. There really does come a point when it's just too hot to hold a fast pace. Just FYI- that point is apparently right at 3100M in 86 degrees.
Nalani and I were both pretty grumpy upon finishing the workout this morning. I couldn't help but think, in this time of budget crisis for the state, where they are cutting pool hours and lifeguard pay to save money, WHY WOULD THEY SPEND $$THOUSANDS$$ EVERY MONTH ON HEATING A HUGE LONG COURSE POOL WHEN IT IS 80+ DEGREES EVERY DAY NOW AND THE (FREE) SUN WOULD HEAT THE WATER JUST FINE ALL ON ITS OWN???
Walking back to the locker room I asked the lifeguard about who I needed to contact to get the heaters turned OFF. She told me to talk to Barbara, who is the pool manager, who is not normally there first thing in the morning but happened to be in the office today. Perfect.
So I walked into the office and asked the same question... Just a little background information- Barbara is clearly NOT an athlete. Barbara has probably never exercised a day in her life. Barbara was talking to another old lady and when they stopped their conversation I asked my question. Both old ladies responded to me with daggers in their eyes saying, "Don't you dare!!" They were completely serious. They went on and on with a serious tongue lashing tone about the old ladies with arthritis who need to pool to be warm so they can stand around in it and not get a chill. They told Nalani and me that we were young and that we could suffer and if we didn't like it, go to another pool. Well then. Aloha to you too.
Looks like it's gonna be a HOT summer at the pool boys and girls. I'll have to start rationing my ice... set some aside for ice baths while making sure I have enough to take with me to the pool...
When I sit down and plan our swim workouts (a week or more in advance) I don't normally take into consideration the water temp at the pool (though at this point I'll probably have to start). I just think about the type of work I want us to do. So when we're doing threshold work, typically the intervals are tight. Sometimes tighter than others, depending on multiple factors.
This morning the intervals were tight. And getting tighter as the set progressed. Given that the water was so HOT on Monday that I thought I was going to die at the end of workout, I knew that this one was going to be especially tough. The intervals were for 100's that I wasn't sure I could do even if the water was 78 degrees. My solution? Bring a bottle full of ice water to squirt on myself between items. Maybe that would help.
I'll cut to the chase and tell you that while it felt phenomenal to squirt my face with ice water (this probably prevented me from actually bursting into flames), it did not help me make the intervals. There really does come a point when it's just too hot to hold a fast pace. Just FYI- that point is apparently right at 3100M in 86 degrees.
Nalani and I were both pretty grumpy upon finishing the workout this morning. I couldn't help but think, in this time of budget crisis for the state, where they are cutting pool hours and lifeguard pay to save money, WHY WOULD THEY SPEND $$THOUSANDS$$ EVERY MONTH ON HEATING A HUGE LONG COURSE POOL WHEN IT IS 80+ DEGREES EVERY DAY NOW AND THE (FREE) SUN WOULD HEAT THE WATER JUST FINE ALL ON ITS OWN???
Walking back to the locker room I asked the lifeguard about who I needed to contact to get the heaters turned OFF. She told me to talk to Barbara, who is the pool manager, who is not normally there first thing in the morning but happened to be in the office today. Perfect.
So I walked into the office and asked the same question... Just a little background information- Barbara is clearly NOT an athlete. Barbara has probably never exercised a day in her life. Barbara was talking to another old lady and when they stopped their conversation I asked my question. Both old ladies responded to me with daggers in their eyes saying, "Don't you dare!!" They were completely serious. They went on and on with a serious tongue lashing tone about the old ladies with arthritis who need to pool to be warm so they can stand around in it and not get a chill. They told Nalani and me that we were young and that we could suffer and if we didn't like it, go to another pool. Well then. Aloha to you too.
Looks like it's gonna be a HOT summer at the pool boys and girls. I'll have to start rationing my ice... set some aside for ice baths while making sure I have enough to take with me to the pool...
Monday, May 3, 2010
Moana Dances With The Stars
We have quite the little dancer on our hands. Ok ok, I know we're not supposed to let them watch much TV, but Dancing With The Stars came on before bath time tonight and guess who got all caught up in it?
And yes, she wears my medals all the time.
And yes, she wears my medals all the time.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Now I'm The Annoying One
A long long time ago, in another life in Arizona, I was engaged to a triathlete. I remember him coming home from training days and I would ask, "How was your workout?" And every time, he would go on and on about how GREAT it was. Every. Time. That drove me nuts. (Note how supportive I was as a partner. And note that in the end I ended up married to a non-triathlete. That was not an accident. Anyway...)
I remember thinking, "How could anyone possibly have a great workout every time out? That's just not possible." It drove me nuts because I was not having stellar days every day. My stellar days seemed few and far between and random and unpredictable. (Note that this was in the days when all triathletes just winged it because coaches did not exist.)
I thought of that story about my ex because I got home from my long brick yesterday and Scott didn't even ask how it went. But I had to tell him anyway. "It was AWESOME!" I yelped. His reply? "Of course it was. You always have awesome workouts." And it occurred to me that I probably did sound like a broken record. Ok, it's not like every workout I do is actually awesome, but lately, the key ones, the ones that really matter, have been spot on.
So now it's me. I'm the annoying one who always has great workouts. Sorry if that's super irritating.
But can I go on? And tell you how I backed up that long brick with a long hilly run today and how it was just SUPER?!? Annoying. I know. I'm sorry. But it was just so great! I felt strong... not that I was crazy fast or anything, but definitely solid and came home with a negative split, knowing that if it mattered I could have thrown it down and really run hard there the last few miles. Nalani and I met up (accidentally- we just happened to be at the same place at the same time running in the same direction! Seriously. What a coincidence!) and we ran together through the beautiful Botanical Gardens and up an old mountain road that is unmaintained and it was *dumping* rain and you just couldn't wipe the smile off either of our faces. Ok. I'll stop now.
Anyway, tick tock. Honu is in 5 weeks. Less than that now. 5 weeks from right now it'll be over. It seems like we've been training for this race forever and I'm just so excited that it's finally getting close! Everyone I know is going to be there (all the cool kids are doing it!). Registration is still open in case any of you are looking for a crazy hot hard 70.3 to do in less than 5 weeks... But I digress. My point is, I can count the number of key workouts I have left on one hand. Most of the work has been done. Couple more good long training days, one tune-up Olympic Distance race, and a solid taper and then it's Game Time. Tick tock. Game Time.
I remember thinking, "How could anyone possibly have a great workout every time out? That's just not possible." It drove me nuts because I was not having stellar days every day. My stellar days seemed few and far between and random and unpredictable. (Note that this was in the days when all triathletes just winged it because coaches did not exist.)
I thought of that story about my ex because I got home from my long brick yesterday and Scott didn't even ask how it went. But I had to tell him anyway. "It was AWESOME!" I yelped. His reply? "Of course it was. You always have awesome workouts." And it occurred to me that I probably did sound like a broken record. Ok, it's not like every workout I do is actually awesome, but lately, the key ones, the ones that really matter, have been spot on.
So now it's me. I'm the annoying one who always has great workouts. Sorry if that's super irritating.
But can I go on? And tell you how I backed up that long brick with a long hilly run today and how it was just SUPER?!? Annoying. I know. I'm sorry. But it was just so great! I felt strong... not that I was crazy fast or anything, but definitely solid and came home with a negative split, knowing that if it mattered I could have thrown it down and really run hard there the last few miles. Nalani and I met up (accidentally- we just happened to be at the same place at the same time running in the same direction! Seriously. What a coincidence!) and we ran together through the beautiful Botanical Gardens and up an old mountain road that is unmaintained and it was *dumping* rain and you just couldn't wipe the smile off either of our faces. Ok. I'll stop now.
Anyway, tick tock. Honu is in 5 weeks. Less than that now. 5 weeks from right now it'll be over. It seems like we've been training for this race forever and I'm just so excited that it's finally getting close! Everyone I know is going to be there (all the cool kids are doing it!). Registration is still open in case any of you are looking for a crazy hot hard 70.3 to do in less than 5 weeks... But I digress. My point is, I can count the number of key workouts I have left on one hand. Most of the work has been done. Couple more good long training days, one tune-up Olympic Distance race, and a solid taper and then it's Game Time. Tick tock. Game Time.
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